Nestled
in the mountains of beautiful northern New Zealand, Shangri-La is an
earthly paradise, a １８０-hectare veganic haven that’s been cultivated for
the past １０ years by volunteers from the US-based non-profit group
Gentle World, which actively promotes the vegan lifestyle.

Shangri-la
is home to a vast array of trees, flowers, vegetable plots and fruit
orchards. It is also the site of cooking classes and seminars put on by
Gentle World’s volunteers so the public can learn about the many
benefits of veganic living.

Today we will hear some veganic
gardening tips and get a brief tour of the center, where we will see
delicious fruits and vegetables growing abundantly in a loving,
Earth-friendly environment.

Angel (f): Hi everyone and welcome
to Shangri-La. My name is Angel and I’m a volunteer for Gentle World, a
vegan educational organization and intentional community in existence
for ４０ years.

For the past １０ years Gentle World volunteers have
spent four to six months of every year in the far north of New Zealand,
transforming ４５４ acres (１８０ hectares) of beautiful New Zealand
countryside into a vegan educational center where visitors from all over
the world now come to learn about the many benefits of veganism and how
to live vegan, healthily and joyfully.

As part of our program
people learn how to grow their own food, not just organically, which is
without the use of chemicals, but also without the use of any animal
by-products, including manures, blood and bone meal, fish emulsions, or
waste from the slaughterhouse floor.

HOST: Magic is Shangri-La’s
head gardener who has been a veganic grower since ２０００. He will now
explain the differences between the veganic method of cultivation and
conventional organic agriculture.

Magic (m):It’s very similar to
organic growing but we have more compassion in our growing methods. We
don’t use fertilizers like blood and bone or animal manures from
exploited animals.

And we also have compassion with our growing
methods in that we take care of the plants without using sprays and use
simple methods that we don’t harm the earthworms and other creatures
that are in the soil.

We plant our crops to rotate and grow
things at the right time of the year so they don’t get pest problems.
And also we keep our plants healthy with green manure crops and rotation
so the plants are not susceptible to the fungal diseases and the insect
attacks that it’s possible to get.